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There are over 3000 ‘carbon neutral’ organisations in the UK and that number is getting bigger. Carbon neutral products and services are increasingly common: from t-shirts to carpet tiles to beer, if you want it carbon neutral it’s yours. But what does the term actually mean, and why are organisations so keen to go ‘carbon neutral’?
Measure, reduce, offset
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) defines carbon neutrality as the result of “ a transparent process of calculating emissions, reducing those emissions and offsetting residual emissions – [so that] net carbon emissions equal zero.”
A simple message for stakeholders
Organisations use carbon neutrality to tie their environmental programme together into a concept that customers and staff can understand.
A way of taking responsibility
Going carbon neutral as an organisation, or making a product or service carbon neutral, can also be a way of ensuring that the organisation takes responsibility for all of its polluting activity. Once emissions have been reduced, offsetting the unavoidable emissions can ensure that the ‘polluter pays’ and that there is an additional incentive to keep focussed on reductions.
Steps to going ‘carbon neutral’
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Measure the carbon footprint of the organisation, product or service using Defra emissions factors. The footprint of carbon neutral products should be measured using the standards PAS2050 or ISO14040.
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Have plans in place to reduce emissions first, working towards a time-limited emissions reduction target. This is important to help you save money, show people you’re genuine, and help the UK meet its emission reduction targets.
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Look for offsets carrying the government quality mark. Don’t ‘offset’ using projects in the UK – if you want to invest in UK projects, go for it but don’t use them to claim carbon neutrality.
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Provide clear and transparent information about your claim, on each of the three aspects above (what you measured, how you reduced emissions and who you offset with).
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Review carbon neutral claims yearly, and get a third party to verify the results.
More information
DECC has produced guidance for organisations claiming to be carbon neutral, or providing carbon neutral products or services, which is available at
http://www.decc.gov.uk/assets/decc/What%20we%20do/A%20low%20carbon%20UK/carbonneutrality/1_20090930090921_e_@@_carbonneutralityguidance.pdf
If you are considering going carbon neutral and want advice or support, Carbon Retirement is a Government accredited provider of carbon offsets and related advice. www.carbonretirement.com
 Written by Jane Burston, Director at Carbon Retirement. Carbon Retirement is a Government-assured carbon offset provider that removes 'pollution allowances' from the European system, forcing industry to invest in clean technology.
Created because of the perceived lack of transparency and robustness in the carbon markets, Carbon Retirement is different to all other offset providers. Instead of selling project based offsets, we cancel the EU’s pollution permits from the emission trading scheme on behalf of companies wishing to offset voluntarily. This effectively reduces the amount of permits that heavy industry in Europe can use to pollute. It is 100% additional and tackles carbon reduction right here in Europe.
If you’ve got any questions or would like to arrange an informal discussion, get in touch: info@carbonretirement.com or +44 (0) 207 1830 188. Visit us at www.carbonretirement.com.
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